Dr. Dinosaur

2006-07-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

Hello folks, it's been a long time since I've blogged. Why you ask? I dunno- I haven't been busy- I took my boards and then had 3 weeks off. Right now, one would define me as "busy" because I am in a 3rd year of medical school orientation. However, big surprise, it is WICKED boring. BORING. Someone is telling us how to use the computer system, and I just don't care.

Next week, I start surgery- hours are something like 5AM-6PM each day with overnight call every 4th day. Sounds fun, right?

Anyways, this guy is about to finish, so I am going to cut it short, but that's what's been up with my life.

I went to Water Country on Wednesday- a whole day of being exposed to fecal bacteria! Neat! It was fun though- new ride called Dragon's Den was fun times. I would recommend it, although I do predict that someone will either die or be seriously injured on it this year. Keep an eye out for that.

Peace out!

being crazy

2006-05-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

If you've talked to me lately, you may have noticed that I am crazy. let me figure out why. Lots of things have been happening to me lately, and my life is quite busy. I would deign to suggest that this is the reason.

I got engaged a couple weeks ago, which was exciting, but now I am thinking about all the planning and nutso-ness that goes into weddings, and I admit it, it's kind of stressful! I haven't even started planning yet. We found out last weekend that Harvard is wicked expensive (why would it not be?) and I haven't yet figured out who's paying for what and all that- I am going home next weekend and maybe we will figure out a budget and all that stuff then.

What else- I am looking for new apartments- I have seen about 11 places now, and found 2 that I could live in (and Rasheed agreed with me- they weren't bad), BUT it is tricky cause Rasheed and I have vastly different locations- I need to be close to Worcester, and he needs to be close to Boston, so we figured split the difference and live in Framingham, but it is much more expensive there to live and a lot of the places suck. The 2 places we liked were in Worcester- I am going to see one more tonight (maybe 2 if I can swing it). Keep your fingers crossed.

Schoo! Arg- that's always the source of angst- I mean, I have 3 tests next week- which I have barely studied for- and there is a lot to know! Hopefully today will be a good study day. But it is easy to get distracted with paragraphs number 2 and 3 above! I also have boards coming up which are quite important but again which I have barely studied for...hopefully that will change once i have a place to live and that is off my mind!

I used to think i was well organized, but I am just a total crazy spaz at this point- I have no idea how people can have children and be in medical school at the same time.

So, for those of you near and dear to my heart, don't worry that you have to commit me to a mental hospital for observation- my mind is just going in a million directions right now, but I will get through it. Talk to me on June 16th at 5PM (after my test and presumably after I have a place to live) and you will find i am less crazy then!

Zach Braff

2006-05-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

has a blog. How neat! Unfortunately, he never updates it- last update was in February. Boo.

I am in a lecture right now about shame and humiliation in the medical encounter. It is given by our dean. I feel like shame and humiliation are very important to know about and adapt to, but I am not sure a lecture is necessary. However, he is a national expert on this subject and he wrote a book about apology, so I guess he thinks this is important. He just told us a story of a doctor whose rubber band flung off and landed in a patient's pubes. How embarrassing! Oh well, I can listen to a bunch of stories. And they are giving us lunch today, so I can't complain!

my new computer!

2006-05-08T04:10:00.000-07:00

I got a mac- I know, I know, all you PCers out there are wondering why did I make the switch? There is a simple explanation- when I went to transfer my files, it took my PC 5 minutes to do the same thing it too the mac to do in 10 minutes. Not too shabby. It also has a built in camera, so I can play and take pictures like this:

That's kinda cool, right? I can alter the picture to make it colorful too! More later. Anyways, I am just scratching the surface of this baby!

AMEN!

2006-05-02T04:31:00.000-07:00

Nick Kristof strikes gold! People, this makes total sense! How can anyone not get behind a policy that increases access to contraception and reduces abortions?

Beyond Chastity Belts
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: May 2, 2006
Abortion may be the single most polarizing issue in America today, but there's one thing Democrats and Republicans mostly agree on: it would be better if Americans had fewer abortions.

The best way to reduce the number of abortions, in turn, would be to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. Every year, Americans have three million unplanned pregnancies, leading to 1.3 million abortions.

So it should be a no-brainer that we increase access to contraception, and in particular make the "morning after" pill available over the counter. That would be the single simplest step to reduce the U.S. abortion rate, while also helping hundreds of thousands of women avert unwanted pregnancies.

Plan B, the emergency contraceptive, normally prevents pregnancy when taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex — although it is most effective when taken within 24 hours. It is now available in most of the U.S. only by prescription, but the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have both endorsed it for over-the-counter use.

President Bush's Food and Drug Administration has blocked that, apparently fearing that better contraception will encourage promiscuity. But unless the libidophobes in the administration mandate chastity belts, their opposition to Plan B amounts to a pro-abortion policy.

One study, now a bit dated, found that if emergency contraceptives were widely available in the U.S., there would be 800,000 fewer abortions each year. And even though they are generally available only by prescription, emergency contraceptives averted 51,000 abortions in 2000, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

That's one of the paradoxes in the abortion debate: The White House frequently backs precisely the policies that cause America to have one of the highest abortion rates in the West. Compared with other countries, the U.S. lags in sex education and in availability of contraception — financing for contraception under the Title X program has declined 59 percent in constant dollars since 1980 — so we have higher unintended pregnancy rates and abortion rates.

Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium have abortion rates only one-third of America's, and France's is half of America's. France has made a particular push for emergency contraception to lower its abortion rate by making free morning-after pills available to French teenagers, without informing the parents. Nurses in French junior high and high schools are authorized to hand out emergency contraception pills.

That broad availability is the global pattern. While American women cannot normally obtain emergency contraception without a prescription (by which time the optimal 24-hour window has often passed), it is available without a prescription in much of the rest of the world, from Albania to Tunisia, from Belgium to Britain.

One thought that paralyzes the Bush administration is that American teenage girls might get easy access to emergency contraception and turn into shameless hussies. But contraception generally doesn't cause sex, any more than umbrellas cause rain.

The reality is that almost two-thirds of American girls have lost their virginity by the time they turn 18 — and one-quarter use no contraception their first time. Some 800,000 American teenagers become pregnant each year, 80 percent of the time unintentionally.

So we may wince at the thought of a 15-year-old girl obtaining Plan B after unprotected sex. But why does the White House prefer to imagine her pregnant?

Indeed, Plan B may be more important for teenagers than for adults, because adults are more likely to rely on a regular contraceptive. Teenagers wing it.

Granted, making contraceptives available — all kinds, not just Plan B — presents a mixed message. We encourage young people to abstain from sex, and then provide condoms in case they don't listen. But that's because we understand human nature: We also tell drivers not to speed, but provide air bags in case they do.

The administration's philosophy seems to be that the best way to discourage risky behavior is to take away the safety net. Hmmm. I suppose that if we replaced air bags with sharpened spikes on dashboards, people might drive more carefully — but it still doesn't seem like a great idea.

So let's give American women the same rights that they would have if they were Albanians or Tunisians, and make Plan B available over the counter. It's time for President Bush to end his policies that encourage abortions.

being engaged

2006-04-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

OK, most people know this, but Rasheed finally proposed to me this weekend (yesterday the 29th at 8AM to be exact). OK, so you want to know the story? He told me during the week he wanted to go for a nice long walk along the Charles River early Saturday morning, before there are crowds there. I thought, hey cool, he finally gets me, I would LOVE to go for a walk Saturday morning, but didn't think much else of it. The morning of, we wake up (after he woke up several times and kept checking the clock nervously, but I wasn't sure why he was doing that since it wasn't like we had a schedule). So he tells me to bring my camera- OK, who needs a camera on a walk, so I was thinking a bit, hey, maybe this is more than a walk, but I've been thinking that a lot lately, so I put the thought out of my head.

So we park on DeWolfe St and walk to the Weeks Footbridge, and it's a really gorgeous day- he says, hey, stop- let me take a picture of you with my camera, so he is on his knee, getting out the camera, and he opens the case and removes the camera and the ringbox is inside, and as soon as I saw it, I know what's about to happen. He opens it, and the ring is beautiful, and he pushes it toward me, and starts to say "Kate, would you do me the honor...." and something else, I don't remember, and the first words out of my mouth are "Are you kidding me?" and then I take the ring and put it on, and he says "Wait, was that a yes?" and I said, "Yes, of course!". And then we hugged, and then we got some lady walking to take a picture of us:

OK, so now we're engaged- nothing set yet in terms of plans, but I will obviously get on that soon- I am a type A personality of course! I already have lots of ideas, but I need to go slow or my ideas get ahead of me! Plus, I should probably talk to Rasheed before I go planning everything, cause now we will need to do things like COMPROMISE. Ew.

OK, here's a couple pictures of the ring:

hello and welcome back

2006-04-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

So I am finally blogging again. School is really a pain in the ass. Luckily my test today on female reproduction wasn't too hard. I have a practice board exam (ICK!) this Thursday which I am sure I will bomb, but that's OK.

Last weekend was my birthday- Rasheed and others totally surprised me, not once but twice. How did he do it? He told me there was a WW wrestler, Booker T, he really wanted to meet. He heard this guy was signing autographs at the Boynton restaurant in Worcester, because there was a WWF show at the Centrum this weekend he was in, and would I Please please please come with him? This put me in a bad mood, cause I am thinking, why is my boyfriend, a seemingly normal individual, obsessed with wrestling? So I agree (begrudgingly) to go see this Booker T guy. Of course, when we get there I am in a horrible mood- trying to pretend I am happy, but i am really pissed that I have to see this guy, and Ra promises me he'll take me somewhere good after. So we walk in and then there are my friends. Ha. And then since I had one surprise party Friday night, I wasn't expecting another one the next night! So good one Rasheed!

What else- I just wanted to get involved in this Duke rape scandal that's going on. I am all about innocent until proven guilty- it's important. However, Rape is a serious crime, and I don't take it lightly. I want to highlight something that was in the NYT about this. First off, if you aren't aware, 2 white duke lacrosse players have been indicted and charged with raping a black stripper they hired for a party. FIRST OFF, STRIPPERS AT A PARTY FOR COLLEGE KIDS? Come on people! Allegedly, they locked her in a bathroom, and shouted racial epithets and assaulted her. OK, so that's the allegation and of course it could be fabricated, although it's pretty clear she was raped by someone as that was consistent with her exam at the ER.

What I would like to say is I am sick of ppl saying "oh, he's such a good kid; I can never think he would do that." Here's a quote directly from the article about one of the accused:

"University officials, however, have said that Mr. Pressler had not issued any reprimand to Mr. Finnerty an earlier assault charge.

Mr. Finnerty had been arrested with two teammates from his high school lacrosse team in the Georgetown section of Washington on Nov. 5, after a man told police at 2:30 a.m. that they "had punched him in the face and body, because he told them to stop calling him gay and other derogatory names," according to court records.

Mr. Finnerty's lawyer in that case, Steven J. McCool, said that the student had entered the District of Columbia's diversionary program, and that the assault charge would be dismissed after the completion of 25 hours of community service."

Then, when a neighbor of this kid is asked, he says ""He's a good kid," said the neighbor, Ahmad Bendary. "I would trust him with my own daughter."

"We believe he is innocent," Mr. Bendary said, adding that "the whole neighborhood believes in him."

UM, FYI, beating someone up because they told you to stop calling you gay means you are NOT a good kid.

I don't understand why some people think they are entitled to shit on other human beings! It is so wrong! And 25 hrs of community service seems a bit wimpy to me.

Tylenol cold and flu

2006-03-27T17:57:00.000-08:00

Can I just extol the virtues of Tylenol cold and flu? The stuff rocks, and now I know the mechanism of all the major ingredients:

1) Dextromethorphan is an opioid that acts as a cough suppressant- side effects include ataxia, drowsiness, and allergic reactions
2) Pseudoephedrine is an indirect sympathomimetic- it is responsible for drying up nasal secretions, and it's side effects include high blood pressure
3) Chlorpheniramine is an anti-histamine, with the side effects of hyperphagia (eating a lot) and drowsiness.
4) Acetominophen (of course Tylenol) is tylenol- an analgesic and anti-fever medicine. Side effects include liver damage if used with alcohol or used to excess.

There you go!

This is also a shout out to Jean who requested that I do another entry that wasn't titled "diarrhea".

diarrhea

2006-03-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

OK, so countdown to flight take-off from Manchester, NH: 48 hrs! Woohoo. Which means i can't focus. I have a test tomorrow (last one before break) about GI. Which brings me to the title of this post. Diarrhea.

It's a funny word- one that will make even the most mature person giggle. But it is something I now know a lot about. Did you know there are 5 categories of diarrhea, and next time you have it, you should let me know so I can diagnose you. Or maybe you don't want to tell me you have diarrhea and you want to figure it out for yourself. Here are your choices:

1) Secretory diarrhea- caused when you get cholera or if you have a hormone producing tumor. Symptoms include greater than 1L of stool per day, isotonic with your blood, and it doesn't go away even when you stop eating. Sound neat? Ready for the next one? Drink lots of fluid or you may become dehydrated

2) Osmotic diarrhea- caused when you have too many osmoles lead to water being sucked into the stool, causing diarrhea. Common causes- lactose intolerance or magnesium salts. How to tell if this is the cause of your diarrhea: test your stool- if there is an osmolar gap, you probably have this kind. Also, it should stop if you stop eating the osmole making your poop so runny.

3) Motility diarrhea- this is when you gut is moving stuff so fast through that the cells don't have time to absorb anything, so you get diarrhea. IBS is this kind (as well as carcinoid, post-vagotomy, and thyrotoxicosis)- you will know you have IBS if you are female, stressed-out, and have frequent poop issues that are related to stressful times in your life.

4) Inflammatory diarrhea- this is the kind that scares most people since there is blood involved- basically, it happens if your bowel mucosa gets damaged by inflammation, because of shigella (dysentery), amebiasis (amebic dysentery), C. Jejuni, or EHEC. You may have generalized symptoms of illness, such as fever and generally feeling crappy. There is this interesting thing called tenesmus which is when you constantly have to go, but barely anything (except blood) comes out. Neat! Also, if you have IBD or pseudomembranous colitis, you fight right in here.

5) Malabsorption. You fit this category if you have stinky floating stools- this is because your gut is not absorbing fat well, so it smells. Common causes: Giardiasis also known as beaver fever, disaccharidase deficiency, bacterial overgrowth, or low pH. Also, Celiac disease fits into this category because there is an effacement of villi in the duodenum, so there is less absorption.

OK, there you have it- the five pillars of diarrhea. Hope this helps next time you are on the john

spring break

2006-03-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

The best part about being in school is the fact that you have certain vacations guaranteed to you throughout the year- granted, it would be cooler to pick your own vacations, but still, it is nice to know I will have next week completely off!

Anyways, what am I doing? Well, we (the man-bug and I) are going to San Francisco for a few days, staying with my aunt, and visiting with friends (and I also plan on eating Ghiradelli ice cream everyday). Then we are going to Ohio to stay with Rasheed's family for a few days, and then we come home since I only have one week off. It is the longest we've been away together- how exciting. It will also mark our 5 year anniversary which is crazy since that's a long time!

What else- oh yeah, I have a test tomorrow about neurology (that's brain stuff for those of you who don't speak medicalese). So that's on my agenda today.

I wanted to leave you with something whitty, so here's a link to a funny clip about online networking. Enjoy!

Boys vs. girls

2006-02-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

OK, so I realize that I haven't written much about my own opinions recently. So I decided to take on the war of the sexes/relationships. Of course I can only speak about my own (sorry Ra) cause that's all I have experienced. It's funny because I think in male-female relationships, there are issues that come up for everyone (or at least most people), even though I like to think of all people as unique with their own neat traits and idiosyncracies.

So here are my observations about boyfriends that I think are "universal"

Boys seem to think electronic things are wicked cool. I think it is why there are problems with channel surfing, and video game playing. I think video games are stupid. I guess this means I am less male than I like to pretend. See, it's weird, because I often think I have a very masculine brain- I like analytical stuff, science, math, solving problems, simple concrete answers, and I hate touchy feely stuff (especially hugs). I like to solve my own problems, not ask for help, and feel independent. But I still HATE video games. So I guess it shows I am still a girl.

Guys like action movies. I sorta like them, but would much rather watch a movie that teaches me something or makes me see something a different way. It's so much more rewarding. Action movies are usually just dumb shoot-em-ups.

The truth though is guys are less judgmental than girls. I don't know why this is. I like to think there aren't really inherent male/female differences (I am not lawrence summers here)- most of it is conditioned, but I still find girls MUCH more likely to engage in gossip, myself included. That's how I get through the day, and most of my girlfriends would agree that it is really fun to catch up on everyone' private business, but when I tell my boyfriend about gossip, he seems rather disinterested. Or maybe he's mildly interested, but not as much as me.

OK, gotta watch Without a Trace- it's my reward for not procrasting as much as yesterday.

PS- If you are having heart failure, now's the time to do it when I am learning the drugs to treat it!

Great article

2006-02-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a really well thought out article (I think) from a Times guest columnist/ blogger. This is really interesting- the times now has these people write for about a month. I can only assume this writing is supposed to write about race since it is black history month. Anyways, it is all about Bush attending Coretta Scott King's funeral and being like the only conservative there, and getting critized by the eulogizers. He has some interesting points. Let me know what you think!

Trash Talking Funeral Talk by Gerald Early

President Bush had to know what was in store for him. I wonder if he ever thought of not attending Coretta Scott King’s funeral. I suppose, if it ever crossed his mind, it was not a realistic option. He knew three former presidents and one presidential candidate (Hillary Clinton) would be there. He also knew he didn’t want more criticism about being racist and insensitive, after the raking over the coals he got for the Hurricane Katrina disaster. But after his experience at Mrs. King’s funeral, I am sure he would rather have been somewhere else.

He went to a black church, a famous civil-rights church, sat before a largely black and very liberal, activist audience to attend the funeral of a social reformer of some note, although not as much note as her eulogists claimed. Eulogists can be forgiven for exaggeration.

Mr. Bush knew, in effect, he would attending a liberal love-in, tinged with nostalgia for the good old days when we were in the streets, attacking the ramparts of powers and all that sort of thing. (Nothing like the vetted rah-rah crowds Mr. Bush normally speaks to, who think the war in Iraq is something like World War IV, following the successful end of World War III against the Soviets, and that we actually fight wars for noble reasons.)

And so he accepted a duty he could not rightly refuse. And so he got what he probably expected: scathing criticism about the Iraq war from The Rev. Joseph Lowery, former head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and about domestic surveillance from Jimmy Carter. These remarks were well-received by the audience, as was the presence of the Clintons, who seem to some black people to be Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy and Johnson all wrapped up in one, although Bill Clinton did less for blacks than any single one of these presidents.

I have never understood the business of Clinton being “the first black president,” as Toni Morrison and others asserted, unless black people have come to be seduced by the society’s clichés about them. Clinton seems like what he is: a charming, ambitious, intelligent, white southern social climber who, like certain populist and shrewd southerners of the past, is convinced he “knows his Negroes.” Snopes meets the Kingfish!

Mr. Bush seemed to have taken all of his political abuse, such as it was, as well as a professional politician can and deserves credit, as do all who were present, for enduring a funeral that lasted six hours. That was, for Mr. Bush, a long time to be among people who don’t like him.

Of course, conservative TV pundits like Kate O’Beirne of the National Review and Tucker Carlson took Mr. Lowery to task for being impolite and “taking a cheap shot” at the president at somebody’s funeral, no less. I didn’t know there were rules about what could be said at a funeral — beyond not saying anything distasteful or rude about the deceased. After all, the president was there: what better opportunity to voice one’s displeasure, especially before an audience that is going to love you for it?

Besides, I am puzzled by the conservatives like Ms. O’Beirne who spoke so glowingly about Mrs. King and her achievements. As I remember the history of the conservative movement in America, it opposed integration, which was one of Mrs. King’s achievements; it opposed economic sanctions against South Africa, another of Mrs. King’s achievements; it opposed multicultural school curricula, another of Mrs. King’s achievements; and it opposed the creation of the federal Martin Luther King holiday, still another of Mrs. King’s achievements.

Mrs. King also opposed the Iraq war, which is supported by conservatives. She was in favor of massive government aid to the poor, which conservatives have never liked. So, I am wondering exactly which of Mrs. King’s achievements does Ms. O’Beirne like? I firmly believe that folks ought to have the courage of their convictions. There is nothing Mrs. King stood for that any self-respecting conservative should like.

If the conservatives talked bunk, so did some of the liberals who responded to the conservatives’ discontent. One liberal blog said that Ms. O’Beirne “attacked” Mrs. King, which was not true. She attacked Mr. Lowery and Mr. Carter. The blogger continued with: “How dare they! Do they really think that African Americans don’t know how to behave at a funeral for one of their own? How very white of them!”

I have no idea if conservatives think blacks don’t know how to run their own funerals or even care. But they have as much right as anyone else to criticize what is said at a black funeral. When Mr. Lowery defended his remarks later by talking about “speaking truth to power” and how Mrs. King would have approved and how what he said, was, in fact, her position, it sounded like a lot of pious, self-serving flapdoodle from an old civil rights leader who wanted to attract attention to himself for a few minutes because he had a lot of people listening to what he said. The old dissenter still had teeth!

White conservatives had a right to criticize it, if they wanted to. Liberal blogs like the one above seem to think that no white can criticize anything blacks do “for one of their own.” This smacks of a certain sort of condescension and racism that is as bad as some conservatives saying that blacks can’t do anything right because they’re black and afflicted with all those pathologies that lead to gang warfare, illegitimate babies and bad music. My goodness, what would we do in America if not for the carnival of dementia that passes for race relations. I might have to consider living in another country.

Bird flu

2006-02-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

So a lot of people have asked me about bird flu, since they think I know all sorts of stuff about it, being in med school and all. Honestly, there isn't much to know, except if it does jump to people and spread here, we could be in trouble. More ppl died in the 1918 flu epidemic than all of world war 1. That's a lot of people. And most of them were young and healthy which is weird since it is usually babies and the elderly (and immunocompromised) who died of nasty infections.

Anyways, I found a funny clip on youtube talking about this, and it is totally worth waiting for the loading to happen.

Check it out

Resetting goals

2006-02-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

OK, so I realize that I haven't written much about being a doctor or dinosaurs lately (well, there was that superbowl commercial if you look at my previous post). I decided I would use this post to sort of explain the whole process of medical school to you non-medical folk out there who wonder how we become doctors.

So it's really a lot of learning. First, you go to college when you must take pre-med courses- 1 year of biology, general chem, organic chem, english, physics, and then possibly one year of math. That is a lot of classes, and not too fun classes either (although I liked them cause I am a nerd). Then you have to take the MCAT which is like the SAT for med school- it sucks. You have to study forever and it tests your knowledge (and your ability to use that knowledge to problem solve) of all the pre-med classes. I studied for several months for it and took a stupid kaplan course. Ick. At the end, you've devoted almost two years of college to pre-med classes.

Then once you are ready (satisfied with your grades and your MCAT scores, as well as having like 5 recommendation letter), you apply. The application process itself is obnoxious- you have to apply to like 15 schools (I did 22, big mistake). You apply in bulk to the AMCAS (american medical something or other). AMCAS then sends your application to the schools you selected. If they like you, they send you a second round (remember you get to pay for each round anywhere from 60-100 bucks) application. This next application can be easy (like BU's send us 100 bucks and that's it) or it can be a pain (like Duke's, please answer these 8 really annoying questions in limited words). Then you wait. And you wait. Finally some school emails and says they want to interview you. That means you get to drive/fly there on said date to interview. It's a full day process with anywhere from 1-3 interviews, a tour, a lunch, and schmoozing. Fun times. Then after you've interviewed at all the schools you get asked to, you maybe get accepted. To give you a ballpark figure for the cost of this wonderful year of your life, I spent about 5000 dollars applying and flying and seeing all these schools. Neat! OK, another year gone.

Now, let's say you get into school. Now things are better- I do have to say, I like med school- it's a lot of work, but I find the stuff we learn fascinating most of the time, assuming I'm not burned out. You spend 4 years in medical school- 2 years pre-clinical (aka in the classroom most of the time), and 2 years post-clinical (working with patients in hospitals). Between those two years, you take Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Exam, or as we like to call it "The Boards". It's like the OWLs in Harry potter. This is the phase I am at- 2nd year, preparing for the boards. You take step 2 of the boards your 4th year, and step 3 (the last part) as a post-graduate intern or resident. OK, so medical school- 4 years. At the end you have an MD, but you are not licensed to practice alone.

Now, residency- as a fourth year, after doing rotations, hopefully you found a specialty you liked- now you apply again for residency- even more places than medical school and you fly there and interview and blah blah. Then there is a computer ranking system that matches the hospitals' top picks for students and the students' top picks for hospitals, and ppl get "matched" to hospital training programs- this is a binding thing. Residencies run anywhere from 3 years (peds, internal med, family med) to 7 years (general surgery). after residency, many people further specialize by doing a fellowship- this adds more time. In the end, you may have spent like 6 years in post-graduate training. And you get to take another test to get licensed in that specialty.

So the end result is like more than 10 years of your life devoted to medicine. It just shows how much we learn, and how much training we get. It's pretty cool, but there's still so much to learn! Yikes! OK, so after this email, I now need to study. hehe. Blogging is a good procrastination tool! Cardiovascular drugs, here I come!

New SNL clip

2006-02-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

I am so excited about this whole adding clips that i am adding another one, again from youtube. Not sure if anyone saw SNL this weekend with Steve Martin and Prince, but we saw some of it. Here is the Oprah clip where Maya Rudolph finally returns after having her baby .

Anyways, how are you doing, gentle reader? I for some reason am tired. I would describe myself as feeling hosed. Not sure why since it is only 9:20EST. Did you know I used to go to bed every night at 9:30 when I was in high school? Those were the days, man. I miss those days. Now i go to sleep at 11:30 (not so late i know) and wake up at 6:40. And sometimes i just feel tired and don't want to wake up. And I could quasi-get away with it, but then I feel guilty that I missed class and I worry about it all day that it makes more sense to just get up and go.

Oh, and one more thing: Here is what I thought was the best superbowl commercial (which is saying a lot since the entire superbowl bit the big one and the commercials were equally bad, but here is my favorite. See if you can guess why.

My hero

2006-01-30T04:47:00.000-08:00

OK, this man is AWESOME. Just in case you don't know, it is Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times Columnist. He writes great columns with great insight- mostly liberal topics and viewpoints, but he sometimes breaks ranks with the traditional Democratic party to bring light to unpopular issues and bring them to the forefront. He also travels to get stories; many other columnists just sit in their office and write stories about whatever they want. He actually goes to war-torn and forgotten places and interviews locals.

It is worth it to have a 50 dollar a year subscription to the NYTimes to read his stuff (you need times select to get it). He also makes sort podcasts and videos you can watch online or download to your ipod. How neat!

My YouTube Experience

2006-01-29T19:57:00.000-08:00

So this website YouTube, like Ra says on his blog, totally rocks. You probably already saw it. Basically, you can get free video and stuff from it for like anything you want- random concerts, SNL clips, or whatever. So since i am computer illiterate, I've never added links to the blog, so I figured I would try it out. I am going to add some cool links from youtube for your viewing pleasure. I will focus on SNL for now. Some of my personal favorite clips:

Brian Fellow's Safari planet with the Rock

Justin Timberlake does Punk'd

AND

Lindsay Lohan does Harry Potter (quite amusing)

car troubles

2006-01-20T06:59:00.000-08:00

Why having a car is the biggest pain in the ass:

Just look at the week I've had. Monday morning after a wonderful long weekend of studying anatomy and freezing my balls off in the -60 degree weather that is boston, I go to clean off my car which I haven't looked at all weekend. It takes me about 15 minutes to scrape all the ice off the windshield and stuff. I do not notice that someone has knocked off my driver side mirror until I get around to that side, but sure enough, it is hanging by the electric cord. Lovely. So some schmuck knocked my mirror off and didn't leave a note telling me their information or anything. Nice. So Rasheed and I manage to sort of duct tape it back on, and I drive back home and it slowly droops the entire way such that it is probably illegal for me to be driving. I inquired with my insurance company and found out I have a 500 dollar deductible, so its not even worth filing with them since it will be less than that to fix, but what a PAIN IN THE ASS. Of course, since I have a LUXURY car, the mirror is worth 226 bucks because it is HEATED and ELECTRONIC. Next car I get will be a shitbox on wheels where fixing it will be CHEAP!

Other fun story: yesterday, I notice that when I am driving there is this thump noise that associates with the tire rotation. I have NO IDEA what it is. And each subsequent time I drive the car that day, the noise is louder and scarier and the car is shaking. My first thought was it was a flat tire which would suck because my front tires were replaced 4 weeks ago. So I got out and looked at them, and nope, they are not flat. So it isn't that. Then in the evening, when I was like "This HAS to be a tire issue", I get out and inspect even closer and notice that my lug nuts are LOOSE! So loose in fact that I could physically turn them with my fingers. Yikes! Basically, if I hadn't noticed this, my tire would have fallen off while driving and died. Fun. So I got out the wrench and tightened the hell out of the nuts and then when I drove the next time, the noise was gone. Dad thinks someone was trying to jack my tires or "play a practical joke". Who the hell would do that? Next time, if someone wants to steal my tires, please out and out steal them- I would definitely notice that. It's that they sort of half-ass untightened the nuts that bothers me. What a tool!

computer

2006-01-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

I need a new computer. This current one is a piece of crap. It runs slowly and LOUDLY. I am thinking of going mac. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please let me know, because I;m having a tough time figuring out what to do (stay with dell vs. switch to mac).

Mac: Pros: never crashes, more user friendly, good operating system, state of the art experience, more "compatible" with the ipod. Con: twice as much in terms of money.

Dell: Pros: cheap, I am used to it. Used to be loyal to the company until they shipped everyone overseas. I usd to like their customer service. Con: My computer is a dell and it is running like SHIT right now. The whole overseas thing makes me mad.

I guess if money weren't an option, I would leap to apple., but seeing as it is, I am torn. Let me know what your thoughts are.

wow-long time, no writie!

2006-01-11T19:31:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time. I am pretty bad at keeping up with this blog thing. Let's see- I am now in a new semester (my last semester of "classes", yes!). What am I taking? Endocrine, Pharmacology, Neurology, Infectious Disease. neat. And I am almost sweating a cold. Ick. I sound like crap and am starting to feel that way too- runnny nose, itchy throat, general malaise. Non-productive cough. Oh wait, that was the case we talked about in class today.

So what's going on in my life? I am trying to get up 20 minutes earlier in the morning to work out with the bands Ra got me for Christmas, so I can have jacked biceps. Also do situps and pushups. I don't do it everyday, but sometimes....also, stop eating brownies 500 times a day. I really like chocolate, and it's a problem. Also, trying to get more Katie-stuff done so I don't feel so burned out all the time. Also, try to read more non-medical stuff (as if I have time for that).

That said, things are OK now- for the past two weeks, I've been in a funk because I wqas annoyed it was a new year and I am older or something like that. But I am trying to get over it. I shouldn't complain- my life is good- headed in the direction I want. I enjoy my career choice, I have a wonderful boyfriend and a great set of friends and family. I just sometimes feel like moping.

But that's OK, right?

So went to NYC this past weekend and then stopped to see dink in New Haven which was fun. EXCELLENT Indian food. It's always good to catch up with dinklepuff because she is fun to hang with. Yay. and she always gives me a present when I see her.

I also had a Mary Kay party at my place. If you know me, you know I am as non-girly as they come, but come on, any girl would jump at the chance for 40 bucks worth of free makeup stuff, even if they never use it. I made mom's artichoke dip. Whoops, I sort of ate the whole thing myself.

last test!

2005-12-21T04:28:00.000-08:00

OK, so my last test is today- woohoo- it is respiratory, and I am as ready as I can be. My roommmate and I (both first class nerds) like to joke about how testing week is the best week in school because you have all the time off and you just have to study and go in for an hour to take a test. This theory works if you don't get test anxiety which I don't anymore since I take 6.9 tests per day. We think of today like "Christmas" because it is the last day of school until real Christmas. haha.

OK, Rasheed tagged me so I have to put up 7 songs. I apologize because I won't be able to say such erudite things about my songs- I just like them!

1) Take on Me by Ah-Ha. This song is awesome cause the guy sings 3 octaves in the chorus which is a hard stretch vocally- I can barely hit the top note and I am a girl. Not to mention it is a great song to dance to. The video is weird though.

2) Africa by Toto- again, cheesy, but this song is the balls- great anticipatory verse to the chorus- before you make it back to the tonic, it leaves you hanging on a precipice with lots of energy- I love when songs do that.

3) Romance number 2 by Beethoven. I just love this song- it is very beautiful. Not a pop song or whatnot, but timeless.

4) American Baby by DMB- great song- I just love it. Plus this is the album where he starts making political comments and his songs aren't just about feel awkward or falling in love anymore.

Hmm maybe i should crack a book and study something for this test. Oh, sorry, ADHD I need to get back to the list.

5) Get out the Map by Indigo Girls. That's for dink. I do like this song though. It is nice- about starting fresh with life or something.

6) Coldplay- Speed of Sound. This song rocks. If you haven't heard it you have to. It is the bomb.

7) MaryAnn by Ray Charles- gotta love a song about falling in love with a woman not your wife.

OK, it's hard to choose 7, but those are my 7. Now I am going to really do my last minute study!

more on christmas

2005-12-16T05:32:00.000-08:00

Here is a mock "Twas the night before Christmas", Political style

Representative John D. Dingell (D - MI) recited his answer to the "War on Christmas" (TM) for the House in the form of his very own rendition of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas":

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House
No bills were passed ‘bout which Fox News could grouse;
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
So vacations in St. Barts soon would be near;

Katrina kids were nestled all snug in motel beds,
While visions of school and home danced in their heads;
In Iraq our soldiers needed supplies and a plan,
Plus nuclear weapons were being built in Iran;

Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell;
Americans feared we were on a fast track to…well…
Wait--- we need a distraction--- something divisive and wily;
A fabrication straight from the mouth of O’Reilly

We can pretend that Christmas is under attack
Hold a vote to save it--- then pat ourselves on the back;
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger
Wake up Congress, they’re in no danger!

This time of year we see Christmas every where we go,
From churches, to homes, to schools, and yes…even Costco;
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy,
When this is the season to unite us with joy

At Christmas time we’re taught to unite,
We don’t need a made-up reason to fight
So on O’Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter, and those right wing blogs;
You should just sit back, relax…have a few egg nogs!

‘Tis the holiday season: enjoy it a pinch
With all our real problems, do we honestly need another Grinch?
So to my friends and my colleagues I say with delight,A
merry Christmas to all,and to Bill O’Reilly…Happy Holidays.

one last thought

2005-12-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

I swear.....just a quick one before I learn Tb drugs: President Bush needs to GET OFF the post-world war II Japan/Iraq comparison as well as the Harry Truman/himself comparison. It simply doesn't hold up. The only similarity in those cases is that the US occupied Japan after World War II. Bush is not like Harry S Truman at all in fact, and I really don't think the Iraq war was anything like World War II. He needs to get some better comparisons.

ethnic stereotypes

2005-12-14T12:51:00.000-08:00

In my last post, I talked about the anti-PC crusade focusing mainly on the "anti-christmas conspiracy". I want to add a bit more about that here. I think it is important to note that when someone doesn't say "merry Christmas" and instead says "happy holidays" it doesn't mean they are trying to bring the Christian religion down in America. The truth is Christianity is thriving and anyone who says otherwise is a blatant moron.

Next on my list of the anti-PC crusade is people who have problems being politically correct. Again, like I said before, members of my family and friends get all hung up about the "PC crusaders." To that I say that I think being politically correct is the same as being polite. I don't know when it was ever polite to make a rude remark about someone- if you do, it shows you have poor breeding and manners, so why do it? I think the easiest example to make was after 9/11 people makign disparaging remarks about Muslims and calling people things like "towel-head". Not only is that just blatantly rude, it isn't funny. Like, why is it cool to insult entire groups of people. 9/11 was a terrible thing, but it was an act committed by fundamentalist people, not by all Muslim people. The best response would have been to unite with moderate mainstream Muslims to condemn the attacks, because it would marginalize the fundamentalists and make their cause less legitimate. This is how things should be done in a democracy- not by calling people disparaging names. Not to mention that most people who use these terms to describe ethnic groups would NEVER mention it to them face to face- they would rather do it behind someone's back because it is well known that calling someone an ethnic slur to their face is insulting and rude.

So my point is people, there is no need to get all hopped up about the "liberal conspiracy to force political correctness down people's throats." If you are a good person, you should have good manners anyways. Good manners dictates that you treat people with respect- treat them as you would like to be treated. If you do anything less than that, you are a jerk. it's not even about being politically correct- it's about being polite. So I don't understand why people have a problem with it. They should stop complaining. If they want to use an ethnic slur, fine, but just acknowledge that it is rude to do so, and don't try to blame the "PC warriors" for making you feel bad- you should feel bad just because it is simply RUDE to malign people for their ethnicity of religion. Actually, guess what, it is rude to malign people for ANYTHING.

'nuff said. Now time to learn about mycobacterial and fungal drugs. Yay.

anti-Christmas

2005-12-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

OK, so I have a test on Friday- my favorite class ever (actually worst class)- Pharmacology- since i spent the past 2 hours re-learning chemotherapy drugs, falling asleep, and just now going on a chocolate binge, I have some actual stuff to say.

So there is this interesting push by some conservatives (led by Bill O'Reilly and Jerry Falwell) to force people to think that there is an anti-Christmas bias by some sort of liberal media conspiracy. This is just plain ridiculous. However, I was just reading an article on the NYT about how mainstream America rejects this idea. This is interesting, but I fear factually incorrect. The truth is that I think lots of people (many of my friends and family included) get all pissed off by the "PCers"- aka the people who make them feel bad for saying things that might be construed as politically incorrect. The phrase "Merry Christmas" when said in a non-Christian setting, is often construed that way. I mean, I really don't understand why it is so hard to say "Happy Holidays" to someone rather than Merry Christmas. I mean, most people are not offended by Merry Christmas, but i feel like if you are talking to a non-Christian, and yes, folks they do *gasp* exist- it is just more inclusive to say it that way- it makes them feel like, "hey, this person deliberately chose language so as to make me feel more included." It's sort of like being more polite. Of course, if you are friendly with someone and know they celebrate Christmas, great, say Merry Christmas. If you are in a "christian setting" aka church, or at home with your christian family or friends, Merry Christmas makes sense, but it's like if someone Jewish told me "happy hannukah"- i wouldn't be offended, but it wouldn't be as appropriate as saying "happy holidays" since i don't celebrate hannukah myself. Besides, Holidays is a catch-all that includes New Year's Eve as well. I would just like to say to everyone, GET OVER IT AND WORRY ABOUT SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY MATTERS.

OK, so that's tackling the first point- the sticking point where people are like whining about how they want to say Merry Christmas to everyone. My next point is the issue of putting christmas trees up. Ok, first off, let's recognize where the "Christmas tree" came from- it is largely a pagan symbol that the church adopted to appease the pagans so they would convert, so it's not like it is a HOLY thing or something- it represents the secularization of Christmas, as does giving lots of presents to kids. It is actually more appropriately called a HOLIDAY tree because it's roots aren't even in the birth of Jesus Christ. So there. I have struck down point number 2, the bruhaha over "Holiday trees".

Third, people who want to shove Christmas and Christianity down everyone's throat need to chill out. Christmas isn't even the most important holiday in the Christian tradition. Easter is more importnat- that is the MOST important and defining event of Christianity- jesus dying on the cross. Christmas is like a fake holiday invented so that stores could make money- Jesus wasn't even born in December- they think he was born in like the fall or something. The reason it was stuck in December was again because it coincided with some pagan holiday and it made sense to try and convince the pagans that they should become Christians by having the Christian holidays line up with theirs.

This said, I think the NYT article was wrong in its assessment that "mainstream Americans" don't care about the "war on Christmas". I think sadly they do. I don't- and I think this entire "conspiracy theory" just proves what lame-asses Jerry Falwell and Bill BOREILLY (get it, he's boring) both are. I mean, if they are concerned about the "attach on Christmas" maybe they should be making Christians realize that Christmas shouldn't be about buying presents and putting up trees- it is about appreciating the birth of Jesus- it makes MORE sense to be pissed off about the secularization of Christmas by the stores, because that is what is attacking the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus also preached a message of inclusion and love for one's neighbor, so what's wrong with trying to be more inclusive in your speech- it might mean making someone else smile or feel included. Why would you want to make anyone feel excluded anyways- it sort of goes against the Christian spirit.

Next topic: I take on the anti-PC brigade with regards to ethnic stereotypes.

Addendum to original post: Just FYI people, don't forget that Bill O'Reilly is a pervert that told a fellow co-worker that he wanted to take showers with her and he said lots of other gross things, which amounted to sexual harrassment which he then freaked out and called it a liberal conspiracy. Jerry Falwell advocates the assassination of Hugo Chavez, which the Bush admininstration wouldn't even get behind. So let's just be cognizant of the so-called "moral warriors" trying to "save Christmas". These people are weirdos, plain and simple. They should not be leaders- they should be locked up in a padded room somewhere so they can stop spreading their stupid lies.

why do nerds like puzzles?

2005-12-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

Seriously, if I had free time, my favorite thing to do is a puzzle- not just the hands on, assemble it puzzle, but word puzzles and number puzzles too. For those puzzle lovers out there, I highly recommend doing Sudoko if you haven't done it yet- I did 5 this weekend and you really can't get enough. It sounds like drugs the way I describe it- how fitting for a nerd.

OK, so let's see- I have a test tomorrow about "pathogenic organisms" which includes bacteria, protozoa, worms, and fungus, oh and prions. Hmmm- my personal favorite is the worms which are large and gross. Let's just say that washing your hands frequently is a very good thing to do.

Then Friday i have a pharmacology (aka drugs). I need to know lots of stuff for that so I am going to study a bit today for that too if I have time- there is seriously hard words to learn, like doxorubicin (a chemo drug that goes by the tradename adriomycin). So that's going to take a long time.

I just realized this is the most boring post I have ever written. You should check out Nick Kristof's column for today. I will post it here. I think it is right on and it summarizes my opinions of the Bush administration quite well I think. Bush's quotes are in red.

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: December 11, 2005

If a meteorite crashed down on the White House today, the conversation at the Pearly Gates might go something like this.
"Oh-h-h. Where am I? St. Peter?"
"Welcome, Mr. President. I just need to see if you belong here."

"Well, St. Peter, you know I'm a born-again Christian. I pray every day. I'm very religious. I brought Bible study classes to the White House."
"That's terrific. And have you helped any lepers lately?"

"Not exactly. But my cuts in the top tax rates will create wealth that will trickle down and help lepers. I'm getting there indirectly, instead of barging through the eye of a needle."
"Hmm."

"And St. Peter, I've been upstanding in defending Christian values. We made sure that we call the tree at the White House a Christmas tree, not a holiday tree. And we sent out 1.4 million White House Christmas cards!"
"Wow! But I don't suppose any Christmas cards went to lepers. Or to prostitutes or beggars."

"I don't send cards to Democrats."
"Mr. President, our checklist doesn't have anything about sending out Christmas cards, or putting up Christmas trees. It's more about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and housing the homeless."

"Well, my administration spent $8,000 for a drapery that was used for years to cover up a breast of a female statue. That was clothing the naked."
"That was so silly that Lady Godiva went on a ride to protest it. We always get irritated with religious blowhards who proclaim that faith is just a matter of covering up, saying grace, looking dour and denouncing others for being lax - the Taliban approach. This latest culture war over Christmas is a perfect example of religion based on denouncing others instead of loving them."

"But St. Peter, they're just trying to put Christ back into Christmas. They see how faith is threatened by people saying 'Happy Holidays,' instead of 'Merry Christmas.' Fox News has covered 'Christmas Under Siege,' and one of its anchors has a new book called 'The War on Christmas.' The American Family Association is boycotting Target, and the Catholic League threatened a boycott against Wal-Mart. This hasn't been my issue, but these are my people, St. Peter. They're doing this to glorify Christ."
"Frankly, Mr. President, here in Heaven, I say 'Merry Christmas,' but others prefer 'Happy Holidays.' Gandhi prefers it. And a Jewish rabbi told me that his family felt more comfortable with that as well. ..."

"But St. Peter, that's one rabbi. ..."
"Whose name is Jesus."

"Oops."
"Jesus says Christmas shouldn't be about picking fights and organizing boycotts. All that legalistic nitpicking just reminds him of the Pharisees. Do you really think that if Jesus returns to Earth tomorrow, his priority is going to be organizing a boycott of Target stores? You think he's going to appear on Fox to say, 'Worry about genocide and hunger later - first, let's battle with liberals over what holiday greeting to use'?"

"But St. Peter, I increased aid to Africa hugely. I launched a major program to fight AIDS."
"Yes, your aid programs have been almost divine. And your administration helped lead the way in fighting sex trafficking. On the other hand, Jesus has a particular thing about genocide, and you and Congressional leaders just cut out $50 million that was supposed to go to stop the slaughter in Darfur."

"Sorry, but it's been so hectic this month with 26 Christmas parties at the White House. I've just been too busy to deal with genocide."
"Which Gospel did you say you read each day? Up here, we canceled our Christmas party, and held a vigil for the victims of Darfur."

"St. Peter, you don't mean to say - how do I ask this? Jesus isn't ... isn't a Democrat, is he?"
"No, no. He's nonpartisan. His gripe isn't with conservatives or liberals; it's with blowhards. We're always cheering the National Association of Evangelicals because it spends its time fighting genocide, battling sex trafficking, struggling for religious freedom. And there are so many others, like Senator Sam Brownback, who win respect from everybody because their humanitarian work shows they are trying to live the Gospels, not play charades. They're the conservative Christians who make God look great."

"I guess I was just too busy with Christmas to pay attention to any of this."
"Up here, we just pray that Christmas could be more than cards, trees and greetings. Jesus is so upset that he's talking of suing the blowhards to regain control of Christmas."

my computer

2005-12-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

is on its last legs. It is a dell optiplex 5100 and it makes loud fan noises all the time now. When there is a CD in the CD drive, it is loud. Everything is loud and it makes me nervous. I am waiting for it to blow up and for the little robots to cart me off.

Today is December 1st. Kind of a long shitty day. Felt like i was running late all day and I am just behind. Right now, learning about worms. Worms are bad because they live inside you and sometimes come out your butt. What's gross is seeing a picture in lecture of a guy with 50 worms coming out of his butt. Hopefully he knew they were about to come out, cause if you weren't prepared, that would scare you to death!

OK, I just yawned. I am not good after 11, but I really want to finish learning about what happens when you eat raw pork (probably not something good)

running

2005-11-24T06:33:00.000-08:00

OK, so Happy Turkey Day everyone and Happy Birthday Rasheed. I just finished a road race in the freezing cold raining weather that we call Thanksgiving in New England. Let's just say I was wearing a long sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt, and the outside layer of my parka, and that was about enough to keep me warm. Then not only was it raining and cold, but it was windy along the water, so once we got to that part, it was in our face for about a half mile. Lovely.

But the good news is that I am now wide awake and ready to learn about nasty infections, chemotherapy drugs, and lung problems. Yay for Turkey Day.

I do have to note that NBC is broadcasting the Macy's day parade, and they are really digging at the bottom of the barrel. First they had some god awful country group, and then they had some lame-ass woman sing some touching song that made me think of the garbage disposal I used to have. I think that Raffi was unavailable for today, so they went with their backup singers. Honestly, why do they have sucky people sing on Thanksgiving?

The sadder thing is that we are eating food I hate- usually we have prime rib, but mom wanted to actually cook a turkey today. I am going to binge on the mashed potatoes- the only thanksgiving food I actually like. Yes, yes, I know this is un-American and I would much rather eat sushi, but frankly I could care less.

funnies

2005-11-21T17:32:00.000-08:00

OK, so lots of my posts as of late are rather heavy, so I figured I should add something funny to the mix, something medicine funny, so here it goes.

Do you know that many bacterial diseases cause massive pooping? The funnier thing is why don't I find that disgusting? I mean poop smells bad, but it is just part of the body's way of eliminating stuff. But lots of bacteria make people sick by making them have massive diarrhea. This is advantageous to the bacteria because then they can spread to other people via food or water contamination. Hence why your mother tells you not to poop in the swimming pool because she doesn't want you to spread cholera to the other swimmers.

BTW, Cholera is one of the worst bacteria to have because it makes you have "rice water diarrhea" aka your diarrhea is so funny it literally looks like rice flecks (the mucus) in water. People die of massive dehydrationg. Not a great way to do. Don't drink contaminated water, especially in India which had well-known outbreaks in the 1990s.

survivors

2005-11-21T17:24:00.000-08:00

So many of you may know that I am a student leader of the UMass chapter of Physicians for Human Rights. So we sponsored this travelling photo exhibit of photos from the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the massacre. Before this exhibit came, I knew very little about Srebrencia, apart from that a massacre happened there and lots of men and boys were executed.

I still know very little.

But we had a reception tonight to "open" the exhibit, and we had a speaker come to tell us her story of being a survivor of the massacre. She told an amazing story- she lost two brothers in the war (one was a 15 year old who was pushed off a bridge and shot as he fell into the river). Her father was put in a concentration camp and was one of 10 to survive out of 1000 in that concentration camp. The saddest story was that her first husband (her high school sweetheart and her "first love" was blown up next to her by a grenade that resulted in the loss of her right arm and leg. She managed to recover and was one of the lucky ones who made it to America to get treatment, and she lives here now. She is now pregnant with her second child (she remarried here in America to a fellow Bosnia I believe), and she just got her real estate license. She is trying to start a business with another one of her brothers who survived and made it over here that promotes business development in Bosnia because a huge problem now is the economy, now that peace is moving forward.

I don't have much else to say except that it is so amazing to meet people who survive such atrocities and then go on to tell their stories. I am still shocked that these things happen and are still happening all over the world, but they are, and hearing it firsthand from someone who directly witnessed it is very educational.

morals

2005-11-18T21:21:00.000-08:00

OK, so I am sick of the republican party and the conservatives claiming moral high ground. It is just astounding to me that the party of anti-civil rights and cutting programs that benefit the wealthy can claim that they are morally superior to the party that brought us the new deal and lots of social programs like it.

I would have no problem if the republicans were honest about their beliefs which is that poor people don't matter and are there to step upon, that it should be every man for himself, and that women belong in the home and nowhere else. How are these morally superior positions?

It's frustrating because I feel like everyone thinks that it all comes down to abortion, and abortion is just one issue, but how can anyone view it as right or wrong? It is so nuanced, there are so many aspects to it, and each case is different. Do I think every woman should run out and get an abortion whenever they are pregnant? No. Do I think that in certain cases, abortions are a better option than birth? Yes. Do I think they are good? No. Do I think they are the same as murder? No.

But the whole point is that an already born person is that, already born. A fetus is nothing but a possibility. Why should it have more rights than a full grown woman? This hardly seems a moral position.

Anyways, I am just frustrated about this, because I feel like the "religious right" usually misses the boat in terms of Christian teachings, and rather then focus narrowly on a few issues mentioned a few times in the Bible.

That is all for tonight folks.

Weddings

2005-11-18T21:16:00.000-08:00

OK, so I have lots of thoughts about weddings. First of all, I haven't been to many weddings myself, but recently some of my friends started tying the knot- so now I have been to 3 weddings and I feel like I've learned a lot. Each of the weddings was unique and touching in itself- all three of the couples I felt like I knew fairly well and I believe they all had good relationships. I thought their weddings and the parties afterward fit their personalities well and went well.

I am going to another wedding this Saturday of a girl I grew up with, but I don't know so well anymore, so I am not sure I will be able to appreciate the small things as much since I don't know her as well. However, I am sure it will be a lovely wedding.

Anyways, there is this thing that bothers me about larger more (I feel) impersonal weddings- although I can't say I have been to this type, but it's this idea that you have to invite famous people or people that matter rather than your friends or family- or you invite these people in addition. They might not be close or whatnot, but it is a status thing. I just think that is dumb because a wedding is about reaffirming your relationship, not trying to show the rest of the world up. People who spend ridiculous amounts of money on weddings I feel like are covering up for something that's missing- like all these hollywood weddings and marriages that cost a million and last a week. Just stupid.

OK, enough from me. Peace out

surprise party

2005-11-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

So I finally did a good surprise party- ok, so I have done a couple before, but this one worked out well. No thoughts there were any plans, and we got him. So good indeed!

Happy early b-day Ra! Welcome to adulthood and age 25. When childhood ends and life begins, er, something like that.

Do you ever get the feeling that you feel the same as you did when you were 16 and you think everything about you is the same except when you look in the mirror and realize you are 15 pounds heavier, you have wrinkles and bags under your eyes, and you are no longer scared to complain over the phone about something. What really brought it home for me was today when I decided to do a handstand in my room against the wall, something I haven't done since I was like 14. Back then, it used to be easy and effortless. Today, I could only hold it for a couple seconds before feeling like my head would explode and my arms collapse. If that doesn't show me how out of shape I am, I don't know what will! Ha- nothing like having your entire body weight on your wrists to really bring home the bacon.

Anyways, this post isn't supposed to be about complaints, but surprises, so I will finish on a good note- happy birthday (in one week) Rasheed!

torture and America. Why it doesn't work.

2005-11-14T18:16:00.000-08:00

A good article about why torture isn't ever the way to go for America, from the NYTimes.

Doing Unto Others as They Did Unto Us
By M. GREGG BLOCHE and JONATHAN H. MARKS

The Pentagon effectively signed off on a strategy that mimics Red Army methods. But those tactics were not only inhumane, they were ineffective. For Communist interrogators, truth was beside the point: their aim was to force compliance to the point of false confession.
Fearful of future terrorist attacks and frustrated by the slow progress of intelligence-gathering from prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Pentagon officials turned to the closest thing on their organizational charts to a school for torture. That was a classified program at Fort Bragg, N.C., known as SERE, for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape. Based on studies of North Korean and Vietnamese efforts to break American prisoners, SERE was intended to train American soldiers to resist the abuse they might face in enemy custody.

The Pentagon appears to have flipped SERE's teachings on their head, mining the program not for resistance techniques but for interrogation methods. At a June 2004 briefing, the chief of the United States Southern Command, Gen. James T. Hill, said a team from Guantánamo went "up to our SERE school and developed a list of techniques" for "high-profile, high-value" detainees. General Hill had sent this list - which included prolonged isolation and sleep deprivation, stress positions, physical assault and the exploitation of detainees' phobias - to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who approved most of the tactics in December 2002.

Some within the Pentagon warned that these tactics constituted torture, but a top adviser to Secretary Rumsfeld justified them by pointing to their use in SERE training, a senior Pentagon official told us last month.

When internal F.B.I. e-mail messages critical of these methods were made public earlier this year, references to SERE were redacted. But we've obtained a less-redacted version of an e-mail exchange among F.B.I. officials, who refer to the methods as "SERE techniques." We also learned from a Pentagon official that the SERE program's chief psychologist, Col. Morgan Banks, issued guidance in early 2003 for the "behavioral science consultants" who helped to devise Guantánamo's interrogation strategy (we've been unable to learn the content of that guidance).
SERE methods are classified, but the program's principles are known. It sought to recreate the brutal conditions American prisoners of war experienced in Korea and Vietnam, where Communist interrogators forced false confessions from some detainees, and broke the spirits of many more, through Pavlovian and other conditioning. Prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation, painful body positions and punitive control over life's most intimate functions produced overwhelming stress in these prisoners. Stress led in turn to despair, uncontrollable anxiety and a collapse of self-esteem. Sometimes hallucinations and delusions ensued. Prisoners who had been through this treatment became pliable and craved companionship, easing the way for captors to obtain the "confessions" they sought.

SERE, as originally envisioned, inoculates American soldiers against these techniques. Its psychologists create mock prison regimens to study the effects of various tactics and identify the coping styles most likely to withstand them. At Guantánamo, SERE-trained mental health professionals applied this knowledge to detainees, working with guards and medical personnel to uncover resistant prisoners' vulnerabilities. "We know if you've been despondent; we know if you've been homesick," General Hill said. "That is given to interrogators and that helps the interrogators" make their plans.

Within the SERE program, abuse is carefully controlled, with the goal of teaching trainees to cope. But under combat conditions, brutal tactics can't be dispassionately "dosed." Fear, fury and loyalty to fellow soldiers facing mortal danger make limits almost impossible to sustain.
By bringing SERE tactics and the Guantánamo model onto the battlefield, the Pentagon opened a Pandora's box of potential abuse. On Nov. 26, 2003, for example, an Iraqi major general, Abed Hamed Mowhoush, was forced into a sleeping bag, then asphyxiated by his American interrogators. We've obtained a memorandum from one of these interrogators - a former SERE trainer - who cites command authorization of "stress positions" as justification for using what he called "the sleeping bag technique."

"A cord," he explained, "was used to limit movement within the bag and help bring on claustrophobic conditions." In SERE, he said, this was called close confinement and could be "very effective." Those who squirmed or screamed in the sleeping bag, he said, were "allowed out as soon as they start to provide information."

Three soldiers have been ordered to stand trial on murder charges in General Mowhoush's death. Yet the Pentagon cannot point to any intelligence gains resulting from the techniques that have so tarnished America's image. That's because the techniques designed by communist interrogators were created to control a prisoner's will rather than to extract useful intelligence.
A full account of how our leaders reacted to terrorism by re-engineering Red Army methods must await an independent inquiry. But the SERE model's embrace by the Pentagon's civilian leaders is further evidence that abuse tantamount to torture was national policy, not merely the product of rogue freelancers. After the shock of 9/11 - when Americans desperately wanted mastery over a world that suddenly seemed terrifying - this policy had visceral appeal. But it's the task of command authority to connect means and ends rationally. The Bush administration has too frequently failed to do this. And so it is urgent that Congress step in to tie our detainee policy to our national interest.

M. Gregg Bloche is a law professor at Georgetown University and a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. Jonathan H. Marks, a barrister in London, is a bioethics fellow at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins.

dinosaurs

2005-11-14T17:52:00.000-08:00

OK, since the blog is Dr. Dinosaur, I wanted to add a note about dinosaurs. So hopefully all of you have seen Jurassic Park. It literally changed my life. I first started liking dinosaurs because of a puzzle I liked in nursery school. Then I started pretending to be a dinosaur and making fictional tape accounts of my travel back in time to dinosaur land when I was 5, and then I sort of fell off the wagon for a bit until Jurassic Park came out when I was in 7th grade. I saw it 3 times in the theater, and then about 25 times on video. I literally love this movie. I just like dinosaurs. Come on, you know you do too. The other Jurassic Parks weren't as good, but the theory behind them is sound. That theory of course, being that dinosaurs are the awesome-est thing next to Harry Potter.

Addendum: Actually, I think dinosaurs and Harry Potter are about equal. The verdict is still out. However, I think it can be agreed that both dinosaurs AND Harry Potter are awesome.

Kidneys

2005-11-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

Before medical school, I thought kidneys were worthless. I just knew they had to do with pee and that it was hard to understand. Well the second point is true. It is hard to understand- there's lots to know, and it seems like we are giving pee more than its due. I mean, you pee, you flush it down the toilet, big whoop. Well, there are people called nephrologists whose job it is to study pee all day. They measure it's pH, it's protein content, it's blood content, and everything. Not the kind of doctor I want to be.

Anyways, to make a long story short, these nephrologists really try to make our lives difficult by nomenclature. For example, there are two syndromes known as the nephrotic syndrome and the nephritic syndrome. If you look closely, you will notice there is only one letter difference, and yet, the syndromes are different- nephrotic syndrome means there is protein in the urine and the nephritic syndrome means there is blood in the urine. I think it would be better to name the disease Protein Pee and Bloody Pee. That sums it up rather succinctly, don't you think?

OK, back to learning more about these syndromes than just the protein and blood part.

football

2005-11-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

Today, Ra and I played some football. By played football, I mean we brought my peewee football out and threw back and forth and then ran some plays. It really makes you appreciate how challenging it is to catch a football since the shape is so weird, but after a while, you get better at it.

tomorrow I will most likely have a lovely pattern of bruises on my forearm when I caught the sharp end of the football or where it slapped my skin. Hopefully they will change to beautiful yellow colors soon after that, sort of like the changing colors of leaves!

So what's going on? I am currently studying drug metabolism. How exciting. And by exciting, I am trying to be sarcastic. It's wicked boring. It does illustrate this interesting point however. When I was in college and had to take all the pre-med classes, I thought they made you take those to weed out those who were determined to get into med school and those who couldn't cut it. Turns out you do need to have a basic knowledge in all those subjects. For example, drug metabolism is pure orgo, and if you had never taken it, you would have no clue what was going on and not be able to follow the crazy professor.

Another observation I've noticed. It's too cold in New England. I know it is like 50 outside, but I consider that too cold. I would prefer if it could just always be 70 and I could be comfortable and not shivering. Is that too much to ask?

Join KB Raptor Nation!

2005-11-11T13:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.frappr.com/kbraptor/

Click and tell me where you're from!

Old Blog Posting (Thanks Ra)

2005-11-11T12:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog. Seeing as I am computer illiterate (aka, I can use the computer to write a word document, open and send email, go online and use google, and finally now use powerpoint and excel effectively, but that's about it) this is a big step. I mean, I feel like Bill Gates here, communicating in a technological medium.

OK, so my blog title is dumb, but I wanted to just get started, so maybe I will change it later. For now, I wanted alliteration, and also something about me. Since I am in medical school, I figured it would be apropos to get the word medical into my blog.

So it's my last day of work at the lab. It has been an interesting summer. This is my second time working in a research lab, although the first time was for 4 years in the same lab. Although I like the people I work with and I have learned a lot, I know lab work isn't for me. It's just nitty gritty and very focused. I just feel like i prefer knowing more general stuff about more things rather than focusing on minute details of HIV. It's just hard to know every little thing. Plus so much of research is hit and miss. Also, I like working with people directly. This is why being a doctor fits me better than being a lab rat.

Saw Rasheed's show again last night. This was my 4th time seeing it (3 times officially, and then I saw one practice). As usual, he did a great job, and this isn't just from a girlfriend standpoint. I think he really did a commendable job and has great acting skills. He definitely loves the limelight, but he doesn't hog the stage either. Yay. I, on the other hand, am afraid of people, even in small doses. Some people call it being anti-social. I call it being me. I am just skittish.

OK, enough blogging for now. I will write more later. Going up to Maine this weekend, and climbing Mt. Washington Monday. Let's hope I make it!

my baby

2005-11-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I bet that title caught your attention. Well, I am not pregnant! Sorry. But I wanted to say that by baby, I am referring to my original blog. I figured I would give it a proper funeral by posting my original post here and then erasing all traces to the old one (titled Medical Mysteries):

OK, I can't do it. I continue to be computer illiterate. Somehow I can't cut and paste into this window. I will have to wait for Rasheed to get back to tell me how.

frosted mini wheats

2005-11-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

Who likes frosted mini-wheats? I think they rock. Ra likes them too. The good thing is that they have some fiber (yay for regularity) and some sugar to make them palatable. The perfect combo. If there was fiber and no sugar, all bets would be off and you might as well eat cardboard. Just sugar and you might as well be 5 years old. But the combo is what really is money. They should rename Veterans Day Frosted Mini Wheats Day in honor of the great cereal. But that might insult the Veterans who fought in wars. Sorry Veterans.

OK, back to the matter at hand. Which is.....mini-wheats. Actually, no, I am done talking about them. Nothing more can be said. What else can be said? Oh yeah, here's a ranting tirade for you. It's about....Intelligent design! Yay- my first real topic. OK, let's see how well I tackle it.

Let me first say that I believe in free speech immensely- I think it is what makes our country great. I think the diversity of ideas is really a lovely idea. So if people want to believe in intelligent design, that's their right. If people want to integrate both evolution and intelligent design, that's their right too. If people want to be like me and believe in God but think that evolution is the bedrock of science and believe only in that, that's fine too. The point is, the discussion can be had, but it isn't a scientific discussion. The theory of intelligent design is a religious theory, and it cannot therefore be taught in science class. It is not testable by the scientific method which is sort of the whole basis for science. Also, if you reject evolution, you ar rejecting biology pretty much since it is the bedrock of biology.

So why is this a personal issue for me? Well, it really wasn't before last week. I would listen to people talk about it on NPR and read the paper online and see two scholars debate the merits of intelligent design, but it was always abstract. And then I was lectured by Dr. Dershwitz, an anesthesiologist who is obsessed with pharmacology (hence why he lectured in pharm). Things started off OK for the first two minutes, and then all of a sudden, we veered off when Dr. Dershwitz said "whether or not you believe in evolution or intelligent design, this is how the reaction goes. " Hmm, I thought to myself, that was random and totally unrelated to what we are talking about! But, I let it go. Next thing, the guy is bringing it up again. Now this is making me uncomfortable. Is he trying to say that he believes in intelligent design or is he making fun of it? And like, why is he doing it- we have only one hour of time, why are you wasting our time with your stupid philosophical ideas- it's not a debate, it's a boring lecture about drugs.

My thoughts were solidified when I read paragraph two of his notes: "the portal venous system of the liver (another gift of the Almighty)....." OK, that is blatant shoving his religion down our throat and he lost me there. I continued to take notes, but I stopped respecting him. I mean, it's not theology class- it's PHARMACOLOGY, and my point is, he can believe in intelligent design, but why is he bringing it to pharm class. I guarantee he is not going to convince any of us of his theories since we probably already formed our ideas.

Then, I went home after the lecture and decided to google him, which is what I do when I want to figure out who people are...turns out he created the lethal injection drug regimen in Kentucky, which is being contested now or something. So I am wondering how a good Christian man like him could be a huge mover and shaker behind the death penalty, because last time I checked, one of the central tenets of Christianity is mercy and forgiveness. So I decided he must be Evangelical! Ah ha! A light bulb goes off in my head. Therefore, he must believe that all of us who aren't born-again (even if we believe in God and Jesus and all that) are going to hell. And he thinks he's better than us! ha- I figured him out. Well, anyways, I will end there before I rant some more. I just wanted to share my personal experience with intelligent design.

Until next time my friends

welcome

2005-11-11T07:02:00.000-08:00

Hello. Many of you may have visited my original blog, based out of the Blog Keep Smiling. I decided that I didn't want to continue mooching off Rasheed's blog and stealing his password, so I made a new one. Also, I couldn't think of a Title, and I thought medical mysteries was lame, mainly because it was a poor attempt at Alliteration. Anyways, I wanted to incorporate some aspect of medicine, seeing as most of my jokes are medicine-related, and also my love of dinosaurs. I first wanted to name it a specific species of dinosaur, but that didn't work out either. So for now, it is Dr. Dinosaur, which captures 1) medicine 2) dinosaurs and 3) alliteration. Pretty cool, right?

So something interesting- today's Veteran's Day, one of those holidays you are not sure if it is a national or state holiday, kind of like Labor Day. Except I think today is to remember Veterans who fought in wars which SHOULD be national cause ppl are from all over the world. Anyways, I salute veterans. Yay. Thanks for my day off. I will remember you as I sleep in.

What else? oh, I should state my ground rules. 1) There will be no sports jokes as I don't care about sports, and generally only know some names of people who play for Boston teams. 2) I may make nerdy jokes about medicine. You will forgive me because I am a world-class nerd and am not ashamed. 3) I'll try to make general comments about the world in general too, to keep all you non-nerds entertained. However, despite my saying this, most of my friends are in fact nerds, that might not get all the medical stuff, so I will throw in some non-medical, but still uber-nerdy stuff.

So those are the ground rules. I will also try to post more than once as I did on the original blog, OK?

Now, I am working on finding a cute sign-off. Rasheed sometimes uses "keep smiling" but I can't do anything like that- like "keep being a dinosaur"? Anyways, that just sounds WEIRD!

Adieu, for now.